Using bone organ culture techniques, three concentrations of magnesium were evaluated for their effects on the mineral mass of embryonic chick tibiae incubated for 3 days with or without a metabolic inhibitor (1 mM iodoacetic acid) added to the media. Varying the medium Mg level from 0.3 to 3.0 mM had little effect on the net increase in mineral in live bones (without the inhibitor), but in dead tibiae (with the inhibitor) there was a marked net decrease in mineral deposition with increasing Mg concentration. Bone Mg mass varied directly with the level of Mg in the medium regardless of whether or not the tibiae were inhibited. Responsiveness to parathyroid hormone (PTH) with regard to mineral loss and increased lactate production was not affected by Mg even in tibiae incubated in Mg-free media. However, PTH-treated bones cultured in Mg-free media had a significantly elevated Mg mass, suggesting that the hormone may have a Mg-conserving effect on bone during severe Mg deficiency. The findings of this study support the hypothesis that bone cells regulate the level of Mg to which newly forming mineral is exposed and that PTH-responsiveness in embryonic chick tibiae is not dependent on the ambient Mg concentration.